


Perspectives

by trashlyn



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Based on a song, Drinking to Cope, Excessive Drinking, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Getting Back Together, Inspired by Music, One Shot, Perspectives by Lennon McKenna, Piano, Post-Break Up, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Short One Shot, Slow Dancing, Soft Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23826517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashlyn/pseuds/trashlyn
Summary: Every Saturday night Rey goes to the same piano bar to drink away the memory of Ben Solo. What happens when one night, he shows up?
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 6
Kudos: 60





	Perspectives

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I had the idea for this one-shot at about 5 am while I was listening to a "background piano" playlist on Spotify. When the song "Perspectives" by Lennon McKenna came on, I automatically pictured Ben and Rey dancing to it in a dimly lit room late at night, so I decided to write about it! I hope you enjoy!

Rey had been coming to this little piano bar every Saturday night for the past two months without fail. She would sit in the same place, order the same drink, and listen to the same songs on the piano until she finally felt drunk enough to go home and get a good night’s sleep. This Saturday night was no exception to that rule. She settled down at her usual table next to the piano, and the waiter greeted her with a sad, knowing smile like always. She hated it when he looked at her like that.

“I’ll have a Manhattan.” She said coldly, not even giving the waiter a chance to speak before the well-rehearsed words fell off her tongue. The less that she had to interact with him, the better. People like him constantly treated her as if she were some wounded puppy-dog, pitying her for choosing to spend her Saturday nights drinking alone. Rey was well aware that her weekly ritual seemed depressing to ordinary people, but seeing as she wasn’t exactly “ordinary people”, it was the highlight of her week. Being alone meant that she could get as drunk as she wanted, getting drunk meant that she wouldn’t have to dream, and not dreaming meant that she wouldn’t have to see  _ him.  _

_ Him.  _

All her life, she prided herself on being able to control her emotions. Vulnerability had only ever caused her pain, so shutting people out meant that she would be safe, right? _ Right?  _ She wasn’t sure anymore. Keeping people at an arm’s length was supposed to protect her, but now she was hurting more than she had ever thought possible. Perhaps she should have listened to her heart for once, not just the unfriendly reminders constantly coming from her head. Maybe if she had done that, he would still be here. 

“Miss?” 

Rey flinched slightly at the sudden voice, rescuing her from her thoughts and bringing her back to reality. She furiously blinked back any tears that had arisen while she was deep in thought, and turned slightly to face the waiter before accepting the drink that was in his outstretched hand. 

“Thank you.” She whispered, her hostility towards him from earlier had disappeared. “You can just put this on my tab.” She was an absolute pathetic mess, no wonder her waiter looked at her with so much sympathy in his eyes. 

“Actually…” 

Rey’s eyes met his in confusion. Something was off, he didn’t usually stay after giving her a drink and his tone was unlike any he had ever used with her before. 

“The handsome gentleman on the other side of the room asked if he could buy it for you.” The waiter seemed excited, he seemed to care more about preventing her from drinking alone than she actually did. She let out a painfully dry chuckle. There was no way in  _ hell _ she was letting a stranger buy her a drink. Not again. It was too similar to how she had met… She shrugged off the thought before it had time to affect her. 

“Tell him that I appreciate the offer but-” Rey started to protest, her eyes scanning the room so that she could give her secret admirer a polite smile before declining the offer, but her voice faltered as soon as she saw who it was. Her breath caught in her throat and her body froze with panic, yet somehow she also felt… relief? 

_ It was him. He had come back for her.  _

She watched as his large frame unfolded from his chair, his award-winning smirk growing alongside his height. As be began walking towards her, her entire body flooded with feeling again. With each step he took, her heart started beating even faster and she could feel her drink shaking in her hand. When he finally reached her little table by the piano, he gingerly removed the glass from her grasp and extended his hand. 

“May I have this dance, stranger?” He murmured, looking at her adoringly. The same way he had looked at her the night they met. Rey felt the heat rising up her neck when she noticed this and she knew that she was turning a deep shade of pink.

“Ben…” She choked out on a shaky breath, although still accepting his outstretched hand. “I-” But she was cut off by the sound of him humming along with the piano while he pulled her to her feet. As soon as she got close to him, she inhaled the familiar scent of his favorite soap, no doubt coming from his long tousled hair. She then felt one of his strong arms wrap around her, bringing her closer into his warmth while his other hand still held hers.

“Do you remember how we first met?” He whispered in her ear, holding her close as they began to sway along with the melody of the piano. She nodded. “Tell me what you remember about it.” Taking a deep breath, Rey nodded and rested her chin on his shoulder.

“It was almost exactly like this. It was my first time coming here, and I sat alone at the table next to the piano.” Rey shuddered as she felt the rest of the memory return to her vividly. She had spent the last two months trying to erase all of the memories that she had shared with him, and it felt good to let them back in again. “I ordered a Manhattan, and a handsome stranger offered to buy it for me in exchange for a dance.” She recalled and smiled at the thought. No one had ever been interested in her before that night, and he had made her feel like he actually _ saw _ her. Of course she decided to indulge him, it was only a dance after all, she had no way of knowing where things could have ended up going. 

“Rey.” He said, pulling back from her slightly so that they were face to face. “We can go back to that night. We can start over.” She looked into his eyes closely after hearing him say that, looking for an ulterior motive, but his eyes were soft, only holding genuine compassion within them. Her mind reeled as she looked for something to say, but she couldn’t find the words to say anything. Isn’t this what she wanted? Wasn’t that why she kept coming back to this bar? Didn’t she want a chance to start over so that she wouldn’t mess things up again? 

“No.” The word escaped her lips before she even had time to think. “Ben-” He tensed.

“Fuck- You’re right. I’m sorry.” Ben stumbled, letting go of her entirely, crossing his arms as if he were embarrassed. “You wouldn’t have gone-” One of his hands started nervously combing through his hair. “I just thought, someone told me you’ve been coming here and I just-” He paused. “That was stupid, I’m sorry. Just forget it. Shit.” He started to turn away, about to hurry towards the door, but Rey stopped him. Her hand lingered on his shoulder and she laughed. 

“No. I meant, I don’t want to be strangers, Ben.” She explained, and for the first time, she felt like she actually knew what she wanted. “I don’t want to start over because I like this. I like us.” She continued, talking quickly so that he wouldn’t try to leave again. “I got scared, I pushed you away,  _ again _ .” She admitted, tugging on his shoulder to pull him back facing towards her. “But these two months made me realize that you’re a part of me now whether I like it or not, except I  _ do  _ like it and-” She was getting flustered, talking about her feelings was never her strong point. “Let’s just keep moving forward, okay? Just Ben and Rey. And we can-” She stopped when she realized that Ben was smirking at her again, God she missed that, even though it infuriated her. “Oh fuck it, I’m terrible articulating my feelings it’s better if I just-” Reaching up with both hands, she clasped his face and kissed him with more passion than she ever thought possible. Suddenly, his hands were back where they belonged on her waist, and he pulled her closer to him once more. She continued moving her lips in accordance with his, and in that moment, every single movie cliche came true. While her lips were on his, she felt complete, she felt like they were the only two people in the universe. Up until this point in her life, “forever” had just been a fairytale, but now it seemed real. “Forever” was here with Ben, she knew that now. Pulling away, Rey cleared her throat and looked up at the man standing in front of her with adoration and the look in his eyes almost made her melt. She didn’t know why she was ever worried. 

“You still owe me that dance.” She whispered, her hands falling from his face to his chest, and then he smiled at her. Not a smirk, an actual smile, causing her eyes to light up in response. Not wanting to take her eyes off of his face, she took the lead, beginning to sway along with the music while also taking in the sight of him. After two months of emptiness, she was whole, and she knew he felt the same too.

For a while, the two of them just danced together. There was no need for talking like there was on the night they first met, so they just enjoyed each other’s company and the steady sounds of the piano. As the night went on, people came and went, but they just kept moving to the melody of the music, completely enraptured by one another. 

“I don’t want this moment to end.” She confessed, being the first one to speak in quite a while. Ben leaned down and pressed his lips to the top of her head before nestling his face in her hair. 

“Neither do I, sweetheart. But the night’s not over yet.” He murmured. “And after that, we have the rest of our lives, if that’s alright with you.” At that, Rey hummed in contentedness and pressed her face into his chest. She couldn’t look at him for what she was about to say. The last time he had said this to her she freaked out and left, so she wanted to show him that they were finally on the same page, even though she had the suspicion that he knew already. 

“I love you, Ben.” Her confession was a bit muffled, as she had said it directly into his shirt, but when she felt his soft rumble of laughter up against her cheek, she knew he had heard her.

“I know. I love you too, Rey.” He replied, and the two remained still, intertwined with one another for a few moments more until he spun her out from him, reigniting their dance. She let out a surprised giggle and he pulled her to him once more, their bodies moving together in harmony. She knew long as they had the music and each other, they would be alright. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey again! I hope everyone enjoyed this story and I hope that it made you as soft as it made me. For more updates on anything else I might post, please follow me on Twitter @reysoloings !


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